As part of its ongoing goal to make bananas an even bigger part of America’s everyday routine, Dole is helping Alex the Lion and his famous Zooster friends from DreamWorks Animation SKG, Inc.’s Madagascar franchise “go bananas” this summer.

To help support the launch of Madagascar 3: Europe’s Most Wanted, which features a banana-and monkey-powered airplane, the world’s #1 banana is joining forces with the studio on a number of marketing initiatives, including the placement of 100 million special movie-branded stickers on DOLE Bananas sold throughout the country in June.

“DreamWorks Animation and DOLE Bananas are universally beloved brands with unique appeal across many different age groups, so a summer alliance makes a lot of sense,” says David Bright, vice president of marketing for Dole Fresh Fruit in Westlake Village, Calif. “We are delighted to join together with the studio and the whole Madagascar family – including the Zoosters and the ever-enthusiastic Penguins – to demonstrate high-energy new uses for America’s most popular fruit.”

DOLE’s alliance with DreamWorks and Madagascar 3 is part of its Go Bananas Every Day, a year-long initiative to introduce compelling new ways to enjoy the fruit for breakfast, lunch and dinner, and as a healthier, natural alternative to processed energy bars and drinks loaded with sodium and sugar. A national “Go Bananas Every Day” tour will make stops in Portland, Ore., Seattle, Baltimore and Charlotte, N.C.

Four versions of the character stickers feature Alex, Marty, the Madagascar penguins and monkeys. Dole also is creating a series of in-store Madagascar 3 promotional materials that, like the banana stickers, features a QR code directing consumers to a co-branded mobile page (www.dole.com/madagascar) offering DOLE Bananas recipes and energy-related information, and the official Madagascar mobile app: Madagascar Join the Circus!